Trust
by AmanadafromCanada
Summary: Mihashi already trusted Abe but he wanted Abe to trust him as well, for the sake of the team...or so he thinks. The slow progression and realization of how much Mihashi and Abe need each other and not just for the sake of the team. Ren/Mihashi, Hanai/Tajima. Takes place the moment where the last episode left off. SPOILERS


Mihashi and Tajima finally managed to find out where they were and made their way back home on their bikes.

"Alright, this is me" Tajima said cheerfully before turning down his street while waving goodbye to Mihashi. "I'll see ya tomorrow at practice"

"Y-yeah, see you tomorrow" Mihashi waved back to his team mate and proceeded to walk the rest of the way home choosing to push his bike rather than ride it. He took his time as he was in no rush and it was good night for a walk. He stared up at the virtually cloudless sky and began thinking to himself as he continued on his way home.

_Should I practice my pitching when I get home, coach did say that the bigger our goal was the harder we'd have to work and if our goal is going to be __Kōshien__ Championship then I'm going to have to work extra hard on getting the sped of my pitches up but it is getting kinda late...isn't it. _

The pitcher thought for another moment about what time it was before remembering he had a cell phone and stopped to pull it out. He flipped it open and just as he did it buzzed, surprising Mihashi and causing him to drop his phone.

He scooped it up and checked to make sure it still worked, flipping it open and close and checking to make sure the device was still functioning properly. There was a delay when he hit one of the buttons which nearly caused him a heart attack but the phone was fine. He then checked the time, _**9:13pm**_.

_It should be around 9:30 by the time I get home. I can get in some pitching pratice before I get a shower and go to bed...or would that be pushing it..._

Mihashi closed his phone and was ready to slide it back into his bag before he remembered the text and opened it up again.

_**From: Takaya Abe**_

Mihashi began to freak out, looking around nervously and bouncing from foot to foot for a minute or so before he managed to calm himself down.

_When I left Abe he didn't look mad and it's not like I've done anything bad...and even if I had it's not like he'd know so...maybe he's not mad at me._

Mihashi took a deep breath and held it well he took a look at the subject line.

_**Subject: Don't Go Over Your Pitch Count!**_

The brunette let out a large sigh of relief.

_Abe's not mad, he's just making sure I don't go over my pitch count...but...I don't even remember how many balls I pitched today._

The pitcher let out another sigh and looked back down at his phone to read the rest of the text message.

_**If you're practising your pitching right now, which I know you are, you better keep to your pitch count. I mean it Mihashi. Just because I won't be at practice for a couple days doesn't mean that you can just threw your pitch count away...literally.**_

_I won't. _Mihashi thought as he clenched both of his fists in front of him and nodded. He stayed like that for a moment before realizing that Abe wasn't with him and that he should probably text him his thoughts.

_But I can't remember how many pitches I threw today and if he texts me back and asks me that and I tell him that, he might get mad._

Mihashi sighed yet again and stopped to stare up at the sky, as if it would give him an answer.

_Maybe I should just start with telling him that I'm not practising yet because I'm not home yet._

Mihashi brought his phone closer to his face and texted with one hand while he began pushing his bike with the other and continued walking but before he could even manage to type out 3 words his phone rang.

_**Receiving Call From Takaya Abe.**_

Mihashi stared at his phone and gulped. He stood there and blinked at it for some time before finally hitting the answer button.

"A-Abe?" He asked nervously as if he expected anybody else's voice to come from the other end of the line.

"Why don't you know how to text me back" Abe said in a more stern than angry tone.

"I-I was about to b-before you called"

"Oh" Abe was mildly shock "you were?"

"Y-yeah, I was going to tell you that I wasn't home so I-I hadn't started practising...yet"

"Hmm" The catcher was amazed. _I thought that Mihashi might have already gone over his pitch count by the time I had texted him and to avoid getting yelled at, he didn't text back_.

It took a moment for the rest of the information Mihashi had given him to sink in. "Did you say that you weren't home yet? It's already 9:30"

"What?" The pitcher took his phone from his ear and looked at the time. _**9:36**_

Mihashi looked around confused and wondered how much time he had spent staring into the sky.

"Mihashi?" he heard Abe's voice come from the phone.

"S-sorry, Tajima tried to take a shortcut and got us lost."

Abe shook his head. _Oh Mihashi, why would you trust him with something like that?_

"And..."Mihashi began and Abe stopped his thoughts about the brunette's blind trust in their cleanup-batter to listen to the rest of what the he had to say.

"Ummmm..." Abe's eye twitched.

The raven haired teen was growing more and more frustrated with Mihashi inability to communicate with him.

_He was fine when he was here and that wasn't too long ago. Do I sound madder than I think I do? I just want to make sure he doesn't overexert himself or end up hurting himself, especially when the Newcomer's Tournament is only 2 weeks from now. If Mihashi was unable to pitch at all then we'd be screwed as far as it goes with winning the tournament. They'll already have to find another reserve catcher since I'm out of commission, if they had to go through the work of training Oki or Hanai to be the starting pitcher for the whole Newcomer's Tournament...well there's just not enough time. We'd end up losing every game and all the time that would be put into training Oki and Hanai would be totally wasted since Mihashi and I would be fine by the Fall Tournament and that time would have been better spent improving their batting and working to improve in their own positions._

"I-It's nice out" Abe heard a small voice come from his phone.

"What?" _Did I miss something Mihashi said?_

"It's nice out...so I thought I'd walk the rest of the way home once I said goodbye to Tajima and then you texted me and I was trying to think of what to tell you" Mihashi began playing with the buttons on his shirt "because I don't want to go over my pitch count and you were just making sure I didn't but I can't remember how many pitches I threw today and I thought if I told you that it would make you mad and I don't want to make you mad, especially when I know your just concerned for the sake of the team a-and" Abe heard a sniffle and began sinking into his chair. "I'm just n-not use to keeping track of those thing b-because back when I was at Mihoshi I use sometimes pitch 2 games a day bec-because I didn't want to give up the mound and s-since no one cared if I ended up hurting myself, no one bothered dragging me off the mound and...and" The pitcher was in all out tears.

Abe heard what he assumed was Mihashi's bike hitting the ground and just imagined the brunette curled up on the side on the road crying his eyes out. Abe turned to the window in the guest room and felt a tear of his own roll down his cheek.

_What kind of decent human being does that to another person? They may have apologized but it just doesn't seem like it's enough and that one idiot Hatake, to say that Kano is a better pitcher even after they lost to us and everything he did to Mihashi. _

More tears began to flow from Abe's eyes but what had started out as tears of sadness slowly morphed into tears of anger.

_All that crap by not giving him signs and saying that he was only the ace because of nepotism. Maybe if he had of actually worked with him he would have found out what amazing control he has, what an amazing pitcher he could be and what a great battery he could form with him and win every god damn game they had but...but he didn't even give him a chance. All the work Mihashi did to hone his control and Hatake didn't even try to understand him. _

Abe continued to look out the window, thought everything over and took a deep breath. He was no longer mad...he was furious.

_Next time we play against Mihoshi I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure Mihashi pitches a perfect game. I going to make them see what a truly amazing pitcher they lost because of the way they treated him, especially Hatake. Mihashi worked so fucking hard and still does and I'm going to make sure his old team show him some respect...that is after we beat them so bad it will make them feel embarrassed that their playing baseball._

Abe began to smile in a way which could only be described as mildly creepy and slightly demented while Mihashi sat on the side of the road awestruck.

"Yo-you really mean all that" The brunette said between sniffles.

"Mean what?"

"Everything thing that you said"

Abe fell back in his chair with his jaw agape. _Crap I said all that out loud. _"Um...yeah"

Mihashi began getting up as he wiped the tears from his eyes. _Abe cares...about me! _"You don't think that I deserved what they did to me"

"Of course I don't. Mihashi you just don't seem to be getting it do you. I'm your catcher; if I thought that you were a bad pitcher and we wouldn't be able to win a game with you on the mound, don't you think I would have done something about it by now?"

"I guess but I'm the only pitcher available. What if you had a chose?"

"I would still choose you"

"Bu-"

"Don't you think that I would have taken Hanai or Oki and made them in to better pitchers if I thought you were that bad?"

"I-"

"Control like yours isn't a natural talent...it's a skill, a skill that takes years to learn. If Hanai or Oki or anyone were to try and learn that skill that you have, it would take the rest of their high school lives...and that would only be to reach the level you're at now."

"We-"

"From here you'll only going to get better and even at the level your at now, if not everyone on our team thinks so, I at least think your irreplaceable"

The pitcher face turned 12 different shade of red before settling on a nice candy apple red. If he was still crying, that would have stopped his tears in their tracks. _No one has ever said anything that nice to me before._

Mihashi picked up his bike, put his bag back in the basket and began looking for a tissue.

Abe waited and heard Mihashi take I deep breathe but rather then receiving some sort of reply he received an ear full of trumpet nose blowing.

"Dude!" The raven hair teen yelled out of surprise and pulled the phone from his ear.

"Oh, sorry Abe"

"It's cool...I guess" Abe said while he wiped his face free of the few tears he shed. _Mihashi may just be the most annoying person I've ever met, hell he might just be the most annoying person on the planet but he's a fantastic pitcher and that's something that no one can deny...except for Mihashi that is but I'll make him realize it._

"T-thank you Abe"

"I don't know why you're thanking me; I mean I'm just stating facts. The sky is blue, the grass is green and Ren Mihashi is a one hell of a pitcher."

Mihashi felt his face get redder as his heart rate began to match that of a jungle beat. He brought his phone down to his chest gripped it tightly as smile began to pull at the corners of his lips.

Abe started to hear his pitchers heavy breathing and something else. _Is that his heart beat?_ The catcher brought his phone closer to his ear and listened intently. _It's so fast though? As well as its irregular...and it's crazy loud! _

"Mihashi, is everything okay?" Abe began growing more concerned.

"I-I'm fine, better than fine" Mihashi said as he put his catcher on speaker phone and placed his phone on top of his bag.

Abe stared confused out the window. _Is he really that happy that I think he's a good pitcher? I've told him before though but...I guess it's a situation thing. I hope I didn't just give the team a cocky pitcher._ Abe let out a sigh and placed his head in his hand.

"Abe, is amazing"

"In what way, you're going to have to be more specific" Abe asked as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I-I can't"

"Why not?"

"B-because Abe is amazing in every way" The pitcher fiddled with his thumbs for a awhile before he opened his bag and placed the phone on top of everything else to keep it from falling, hopped on his bike and began the rest of the short ride home.

Abe stared in his lap taken aback slightly by Mihashi words as a blush began to creep over his face "Thank you"

"I don't know why you're thanking me; I mean I'm just stating facts" Mihashi practically shout back in a way that said he was clearly proud of himself for being able to use Abe's line against him.

Abe laughed but even though it was his line, his blush still deepened.

Mihashi reached his house and immediately hopped off his bike, leaving it in the front lawn, grabbed his bag and dashed into the house.

"Ren, is that you?" Abe heard Mihashi's mother's voice faintly from the phone.

"Yeah" Mihashi took his phone from his bag and placed it in front of him on the floor while he took off his shoes. "W-what should I do?" he wasn't sure whether he should practice his pitching or just get his shower and go to bed so he thought he'd get his catcher thoughts on the matter.

"Huh?" his mother appeared from the living room.

"Oh, sorry mom I was talking to Abe"

"Oh?" Mihashi's mother looked down and spotted the open phone. "Okay" _I'm so happy my little Ren is making friends._ She smiled down at her son then brought her attention to the door he had left open and spotted something on the lawn.

"So should I practices my pitching or go to be-"

"Ren, is that your bike on the lawn"

"Umm..." the teen already knew the answer but he turned around to look outside anyway avoiding eye contact.

Abe jumped in with a witty "I think you should put your bike away before you even think of doing anything else"

Mihashi's mom laughed and watched her son run out the door with only one shoe on and shook her head as she heard her husband enter the foyer. "Thank you, Takaya"

"No problem Mrs. Mihashi, if he's even half the handful he is at home that he is at practice, you need all the help you can get."

"Is he that hard to handle?" Mr. Mihashi cut in causing Abe to be confused for a split second before realizing it was Mihashi's dad talking.

"Well kind of and I know it's not intentional but I just get worried sometimes with his weight fluctuations, keeping his pitch count down and when we're actually playing games, I mean sometimes I'm ready to pull all my hair out the way he hovers over the plate when he's up to bat." The couple looked at each.

"Is there anything we can do from our end?" they said in unison.

"Oh, I wouldn't want you to stress yourselves out more then you probably already are but..." _As far as it goes with his weight it really comes down to what he eats so... _"Since our goal is Kōshien champion coach will be working use harder than before and the harder he works the more weight he'll end up dropping so-"

"I got you" The women cut in. _I guess I should buy one of those athlete's cooking manuals...but which one of them would be best for a still growing teenager. _Mrs. Mihashi scratched her head. _Asking their coach and the other moms about this would probably be a good idea._

"Anything I can do" Mihashi's father asked while squatting down to the phone to assure that he was heard.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble to just monitor him a little, like if he comes home from a weekend practice and then starts saying that he needs to practice his pitching, make sure he doesn't. Of course, getting the ball out of his hands is probably like trying to take food from a bear" _or Tajima_ "so maybe it would be better to go with a more discreet method like...uh..." Abe thought for a moment.

"Oh! Like hiding all his balls and saying that we misplaced them" Mihashi's mother suggested.

Both the raven haired teen and man burst into laughter.

"Um, yeah, I guess that would do it. Thank you both so much, I don't know how I can repay you. Maybe the both of you and Mihashi can come over for dinner sometime or we could go to a restaurant if that's preferred"

"Oh you don't have to do that" the women giggled. _What a sweet boy__._

"But I want to! You don't know much this means to me" both the adults were taken aback.

"If I don't nag him then he'll end up doing something that could jeopardise our chances of getting to Kōshien but if I continue to yell at him the way I do now" he paused and really thought about "he's only going to be more scared of me" The teen began rubbing his temples "I don't like getting mad at him, really, it's like yelling at a puppy. The puppy doesn't know it's doing something wrong and it's not trying to make you mad, I imagine the puppy has the best intentions in mind but when it does do something wrong it won't learn if you don't yell at it but that might just cause the puppy to do those things you don't want it to do when you're not around but if it behaves then that puppy would win every game and it would make that puppy feel great about its pitching , which it deserves to because that puppy is a really good pitcher but...ugh" Abe brought both his hand to his face after dropping his phone in his lap. He took a few deep breathes and then remembered who he had been talking to and quickly brought the phone back to his ear.

"Sorry I didn't mean to load all that stuff onto you I just...I-"

"It's fine, we understand and we'll do the best we can" Mihashi father interrupted him and the catcher let out a huge sigh of relief. _Oh thank goodness._

"I'm just so happy to know that Ren has someone who cares about him so much" the short haired women added.

"Oh...I..." A faint blush started to spread across Abe's features and then he heard a door shut.

Mihashi walked in and looked around.

"Uh, did something happen when I was...gone"

"Nothing to be worried about" His father stood up and stretched.

Mihashi looked between his parents as he knelt down to take of his shoe "What happened?"

"We just had a little conversation" his mom said while waving her hand in the air to suggest that it was nothing of any importance, even though it was.

Abe sank back into his chair. _Little isn't the word I would use._

"Really?" Mihashi pressed as he took off his dirt covered sock.

"Yes, really it was just a little chat...but..." Mihashi's mother stopped for dramatic effect while she rose her index finger in the air "You should feel very lucky to have someone who cares for you the way Takaya does"

Mihashi stood up confused. "Who's Takay-Oh! Abe"

Though unaware of it to one another, both teens began blushing.

"Well I've got to get up early tomorrow so I'm going to bed" Mihashi's dad said as he kissed his wife and then hugged his son.

"Goodnight" he waved as he walked towards the stairs.

"Night" came both the brunettes. Mihashi mother sighed and looked over to her still blushing son who avoided eye contact like a pro. _Hmmmmm..._The women looked from her son to the phone and back multiple times.

"Well I guess I should head to bed pretty soon too" she watched as her son nodded furiously. "Your dinner is in the microwave once your done make sure you wash yo-"

"I-I already ate at Abe's" the teen interjected

"Oh" The women looked towards the kitchen " I wish I had of know that earlier, your father wanted to eat it but I told him not to...I guess I'll just go put it away for tomorrow then"

"Sorry Mrs. Mihashi, if he ever comes over again I'll make sure he calls to tell you" the catcher promised as he felt he was also somehow at fault

"Thank you and have a good night Takaya" she said as she walked into the kitchen.

"You too"

Mihashi watched his mom walk into the kitchen then out and kiss him on the forehead before heading up stairs.

There was a moment of silence.

"Umm..." Abe spoke up not because he had anything to say but because he was sick of listening to the pitchers uneven breathing. _Even his breathing is awkward. _Abe thought to himself not know that the brunette was still blushing.

"A-b...e" the pitcher swallowed hard as he picked up his phone "W-what...d-o?"

The raven haired teen felt anger and concern at the same time do to Mihashi's inability to talk to him properly and not being able to tell whether he was nervous or on the verge of tear. _Well...better safe than sorry._ The catcher mustered up his best overly optimistic extremely happy all the time Tajima voice and asked his team mate "I don't know what you're trying to say, you alright man?"

"Yeah I just wanted to know whether you think I should practice my pitching or go to bed early" the other teen answered immediately in a cheery voice as Abe hung his head in shame for the fact that, that idea actually worked. _Alright_ Abe thought as he brought his head up_ keep calm, be patient, even tone and not too loud._

"I think you should practice but not your pitching, your turn"

"My...turn?" the pitcher scratched his head. _What's he talking about?_

"Yes, your turn.." Abe paused and thought about the best way to explain it to Mihashi without putting him down in fear that it might affect his pitching. "When you're up to bat you swing or bunt and then you run to first base but because you bat left you have to turn around then run but when you turn it's easy to lose your footing especially when you follow through on a hit so I want you to work on really planting your feet on the ground after you swing to get a good push off the ground...do you understand?"

Mihashi nodded "Yes, I understand"

"If you were to become a decent runner that would be great for the team" _And my blood pressure._

"Okay"

"Alright...I'll talk to you later then"

"Night Abe"

"Night Mihashi" Abe took the phone from his ear hit the end call button.

"Who were you talking to?" Shun asked as he walked into the guest room.

"Oh, it was just Mihashi"

"The one with the nice smile" the younger said with huge smile of his own plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that one" Abe said as he stared at his brother and wondered what it would be like to be that young and care free again.

"Do you want me to get you the futon or are you going to sleep in the chair"

"Hmm?...Oh, um I'll just sleep in the chair, get me a sheet though"

"Kay" the younger bounced out and bounced back into the room in 10 seconds flat. The teen thanked his brother and watched as he unfolded the blanket and gently sat upon the elder's lap. Shun grabbed the remote and changed the channel as he pulled the blanket over himself and his brother.

"What do you think you're doing?" Abe said as he stared down at his brother even though he was very use to this behaviour.

"I'm watching cartoon while hanging out with my awesome older brother" Shun looked up and flashed the cutest and most devious smile at his brother who looked down at him proudly. _That's my __boy._

It was barely 10 minutes before the 2 brothers had fallen asleep well mean while in the Mihashi household, others were awake and practising.

It was 10:00 and Mihashi was finishing up practising his turn. He had originally started practising inside but realized that practising with bat would give him better results so he moved himself outside. Mihashi concentrated as best he could, imagining he was in an actual game and that every swing counted. He wanted to be the best pitcher he could be and be a decent at bat to help the team. He wanted to have them rely on him for more than just his pitching. He wanted Abe to trust him and want him and need him on the team.

_I'm going to be the fastest runner on the team, even faster than Tajima. It will take all the other teams by surprise because they won't expect a pitcher to be anything more than a pitcher._ Mihashi smiled as he made his final swing, imaging his bat connecting with the ball, dropping the bat, planting his feet on the ground, pushing forward and then tripping over his own feet.

The pitcher spit the dirt out of his mouth and got up slowly. He checked to see if everything on his body was okay. _I guess you can't expect to become a great runner after one practice_. He wiped the dirt from his face._ But I'll work and get better_. He clenched his fist in front of him and looked up into the sky. _At least I fixed my turn like Abe wanted me to. _

Mihashi picked up the bat and went back inside where he got a shower and went straight to bed. His head hit the pillow and it wasn't long after before he was hit by a wave of tiredness. _Abe will trust me, Abe will want me, Abe will need me. _Being his last thoughts before he was out like a light.


End file.
